2026 Tour de France Femmes
The 2026 Tour de France Femmes will be the fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The race will take place from 1 August to 9 August 2026, part of the 2026 UCI Women's World Tour. The race will be organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation, which also organises the men's Tour de France.
Route and stages
In June 2025, it was announced that 2026 edition would have a Grand Départ in Switzerland, with stage starts in Lausanne, Aigle and Geneva. The race will start in August – a week after the men's race, with ASO choosing to avoid an overlap with the men's race to allow for resources to be shared between the two races. The Guardian noted that the "new stand-alone date for the Femmes reveals how quickly the race has established itself and how popular it has become, particularly after the win of France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot". Prior to the route announcement, Le Dauphiné libéré reported rumours that the race would have a summit finish on Mont Ventoux for the first time, with Ici reporting that Dijon would host a time trial.In October 2025, the full route was announced by race director Marion Rousse. The route has nine days of racing with nine stages, covering a total of with of elevation gain – the longest distance and most elevation gain of any Tour de France Femmes. The first two stages will take place in Switzerland, before heading north for a individual time trial finishing in Dijon. The route then heads south towards the Mediterranean, with the queen stage on stage 7 having a summit finish at Mont Ventoux, at an elevation of. Mont Ventoux has previously been tackled by the women's professional peloton at the 2022 Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge and the 2016 Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. The final stage will be a circuit around Nice, with four ascents of the Col d'Èze before a finish on the Promenade des Anglais.
Rousse called the route "mischievous", noting that there were difficulties on every single stage. Rousse hoped the time trial on stage would allow riders like Marlen Reusser to gain time, enhancing the battle for the general classification.
Reacting to the route, L'Équipe considered that the route was the toughest so far, Velo stated that the route offered "something for each type of rider", whereas Escape Collective thought that there was "no real opportunities for the sprinters". The Athletic stated that the race "reaches new heights on Ventoux", with L'Équipe considered that "the women's Tour continues its momentum of discovering legendary climbs" with the inclusion on Mont Ventoux. Sporza considered that the final stage in Nice would be "incredibly tough" and that the Tour would remain exciting "until the very end".
Defending champion Ferrand-Prévot stated that the route was "super nice" and "beautiful", adding that she was "ready to put in the work on the time trial". 2024 winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma stated that she “definitely the course", and that " the time trial stood out to me the most". French rider Marion Bunel stated she thought the "route made for Pauline".